The Sonet is Kia's third offering for the Indian car market and there is a lot of buzz around the product. Unique features, kick-ass design, great powertrains and a long list of versions for different type of buyers, Kia seems be on fire in the segment. One of the dozen odd USPs includes best in class mileage which makes it the most fuel efficient compact SUV - this inspite of excellent power and torque output - this got us interested and when Kia revealed the ARAI certified figure of 24.1 kmpl for the diesel MT model, we knew this new compact SUV had to go through our economy run.
As is the case with all our previous economy runs, we undertook the tankful to tankful method as this would be as error free as possible. The plan was to extract as much as possible from the Sonet diesel in terms of 'Kitna Deti Hai' and though we started driving in urban conditions around Gurgaon, once the displayed economy started hovering over 25 kmpl, we shifted our route to the open roads of KMP or Kundli-Manesar-Palwal highway. This route allowed us to let the Sonet get into a gentle cruise mode of speeds in the range of 65-75 km/h. Do note, the Sonet diesel comes with a 6 speed manual gearbox and slotted in 6th, the engine literally sleeps in at below 1500rpm.
As seen in the video above, we did hit a max of 30.3 kmpl enroute but owning to a toll booth and elevation changes, the final displayed figure dropped to 29.5 kmpl once we finished the 176.2 kilometers.
We followed the same procedure of filling up the tank to the brim - this takes time but is essential for a genuine figure. The Sonet finally took in 6.09 litres of diesel and this translated into a genuine figure of 28.93 kmpl, just 2% shy of the displayed figure and 20% over the certified ARAI figure. Good enough? We say, brilliant enough - certainly the most fuel efficient compact SUV in India.
